| One of the biggest issues universities are facing today is preparing students to actually get jobs once they graduate. For the seventh year, A&T and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are working together to do just that for students in biological engineering and agricultural engineering.
The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and the School of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences are leading the project to increase the university’s enrollment and retention of those students. Dr. Godfrey Gayle of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Design leads the project for A&T.
The agency provides scholarships and internships. “It allows us to be more competitive in going after quality students,” Gayle says. “They have a lot of choice. They’ll be accepted anywhere. The question we’re constantly asked is, “Can you help me with tuition?’”
The internships make A&T’s graduates more competitive in the job market. “That experience is what employers ask for now,” Gayle says.
NRCS works with the school to enhance the analytical, critical thinking and problem solving skills of the program’s graduates. Those graduates have the skills NRCS and other agencies need to enhance natural resources or agricultural sustainability, enhance food security while conserving our vital natural resources. Graduates are also prepared to assist in the interpretation and transfer of NRCS technology to the public.
The project has positioned A&T to produce a pool of engineers and conservationists to replace engineers or other federal employees in the outreach/talent division who will be retiring in the near future. These graduates are trained on policies, procedures and engineering designs and require only limited training help the National Institute of Food and Agriculture and NRCS achieve their objectives.
The results have been excellent:
- Sixty-six NRCS scholars have completed biological engineering degrees.
- Nine alumni NRCS scholars are employed with NRCS with zero attrition.
- At least eight are employed in other areas of the federal government.
- Thirteen are employed in private agencies.
- Fourteen have completed M.S. degrees.
- Five have completed Ph.D. degrees.
- Eleven are now pursuing M.S. or doctoral degrees.
A&T’s biological engineering program was the first at a historically black university. Today, it is one of only two at HBCUs. |
